Ivan Leko will sign a 2.5-year contract with Standard. Then he does a winter internship with the Rouches in Marbella, Spain. But which team will he get his hands on and what can he get from it? And what can fans still hope for?
Things were not going well for Standard from a sporting point of view and that is why Carl Hoefkens was fired at the end of 2023. It is up to Ivan Leko – also with a past at Club Brugge like Hoefkens, but also experience in Antwerp, among others – do better in 2024. Although the immediate question is: is it possible?
For starters: the core of the Rouches hasn’t been the same as it used to be for years. In recent years, Ronny Deila and Mbaye Leye have also had to compromise and, above all, fight with what they have. In the meantime, financial problems also arose.
Financial problems at the Standard
It seemed that these problems would disappear with the arrival of 777 Partners, but this is not yet the case. On the contrary: This week it became clear that last financial year they also recorded a loss of around 20 million euros.
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There is even a fear that points will be deducted, after Ardent City previously had a short-term transfer ban in place. The loss now amounts to as much as 34 million euros and the improvement must occur quickly: capital contributions from 777 Partners alone are not sufficient.
The news from Het Laatste Nieuws is noteworthy: last season’s annual salary would have been at least 31 (!) million euros. This can only mean that individual wages are very high. And that many are also paid too much, this is clear.
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Leko chooses the collective
From a sporting point of view it’s Ivan Leko’s turn to start… avoiding relegation. The gap to play-off 1 is currently nine points, the gap to play-off 3 is just two points. And so in the next few weeks everyone will be busy on the sports field.
To this end, Ivan Leko will likely opt and insist on the collective, as he has done in the past. Only in this way will the Rouches be able to get out of a difficult, perhaps even disastrous, situation. It might be a shock to the dressing room, but Leko certainly won’t lack personality. But to save an amorphous and desperately sick team, the full support of the fans will also be important. It won’t be easy, because the discomfort has rarely been so great.
2024-01-03 19:40:00
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